


Danganronpa 20: Perfect Despair's Playground

by emilyisnotmyname



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Fangan Ronpa: Fangan Academy, Genderfluid Character, Nonbinary Character, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27257011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilyisnotmyname/pseuds/emilyisnotmyname
Summary: Tsubasa Mizayaki hasn't exactly lived an average life. Hes an ultimate student at Hope's Peak Academy, among other things, he's hardly the norm of society.Waking up in what promises to be a hellish killing game though? Wasn't exactly apart of his plans for the future.But with an anniversary killing game, brand new rules, and a cast of 20 ultimate students, theres a solid chance that he might not have much of a future left.
Relationships: Kamiko Matsubara/Akemi Watanabe, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, other pairings implied
Kudos: 3





	Danganronpa 20: Perfect Despair's Playground

The blare of an alarm rang out through the room, persistent bells that inclined a sleeping Tsubasa to blearily search for his phone to shut it off. Vaguely, he knew he had a test that he needed to study for, so he had decided to wake up extra early- but a few more minutes of rest couldn’t hurt, really, and he didn’t have the motivation to get up and work so early in the morning. But try as he might, his fumbling hands couldn’t find where it was, even when he cracked his eyes open to scan his bedsheets. 

Wait a second- those aren’t his bedsheets. And that’s not what his alarm even sounded like. In a flash he jolted himself awake, a creeping sensation of horror pulling him up like a marionette, and urging him to look around the room hurriedly.

He wasn’t in his dorm room, so where the hell was he? He was meant to be at Hope’s Peak Academy… Did he have to run away again? But that didn’t make any sense, perhaps he was a bit forgetful at times, but fleeing the Academy wasn’t something that would’ve slipped his mind so easily. And he certainly couldn’t imagine why there would be an alarm blaring through the room, intrusive and intensifying his panic. 

Of course, if he hadn’t gotten here himself, that left only one option: he’d actually gotten himself kidnapped.

The thought made his limbs lock up and his breath shorten. He has to relax, he has to relax, he didn’t appear to be in immediate danger, afterall. Right, he should try to figure out where he actually was before he started freaking out. Tsubasa tried desperately to even out his breath as he looked around. The room was simple, painfully dull and sterile, with plain grey concrete walls and floors; the only thing that broke up the grey was two dressers, a single bookshelf, and two beds. Wait, why two beds? He was in one of them, so… 

Was someone else in the room with him?

Catching sight of movement in the corner of his eyes, he fumbled with his hands, pulling them up in front of him in what he hoped looked intimidating. Considering his increasing and obviously shaky hands, he doubted it was. Whatever threat he was expecting to see, it wasn’t what he got. Another boy with wild lavender hair was desperately looking at him, with wide eyes and blown pupils, searching for answers. He seemed to be on the younger side, a freshmen, if he had to guess. Regardless, the other appeared to be in the same situation as him, or at the very least wasn’t a threat. Seeing another person in a scenario with him made him feel significantly more relieved. It was incredibly selfish, but he was glad to not be alone.

“Wh-” Tsubasa had started to ask a question of the other, before the boy held a finger up to quiet him, and pointed upwards towards something on the wall. 

“Testing, testing, one two three. Is this thing on?” A nasally, abrasive voice projected onto the loudspeakers, at the same time that a static-y image of a half black, and half white bear appeared on the monitor that the other had pointed to. It looked like nothing more than a stuffed toy, but it moved animatedly in a way that still somehow felt off, and made his heart sink. “Wellll, welcome students of Hope's Peak Academy! You’ve been invited to a veery special event, lucky you!”

The creature paused to laugh, a horrid noise that made the hairs on the back of Tsubasa’s neck stand on end. “The 20th killing game, prepared just for you very special fellas, is only minutes away from beginning! Ah, I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself! Ultimate students, all gathered together to brutally slaughter each other; it doesn’t get better than that! I’m sure you bloodthirsty bastards are all dripping with excitement for the games to begin, so come and gather in the common room on the double!”

Both boys were shell shocked for a moment. What the hell was that even supposed to mean? A killing game at all, much less the 20th one… Tsubasa had no idea what that creature was talking about. 

“Man… This is one really fucked up excuse for a prank!” An awkward laugh echoed with uncertainty, but Tsubasa appreciated it nonetheless, and laughed along. The purple haired boy stood up, and combed his fingers through the seemingly-untameable mop on his head. Tsubasa followed suit and rose from the bed, attempting to style his neon pink and yellow mohawk without gel. They were both largely unsuccessful. “My name is Genji Saito, by the way, but you can just call me Genji. I’m the Ultimate Angler.” His plaid flannel and beige vest certainly suggested something of that sort, though he wouldn’t have taken the boy for the fishing type. The only people that really fished were stuffy old men, from what Tsubasa had seen, but Genji was quite far from that demographic. Interesting, he’d have to ask about his talent later.

But first, he should introduce himself. “I’m Tsubasa Mizayaki. It’s nice to meet you, even under the- er, circumstances. But you said it best, this is seriously messed up, even if it is just a prank.” Lightening the mood would definitely help, and now that the alarm wasn’t screaming in his ears, it was easier to still his hands and focus on his words.. “I’m the Ultimate Private Investigator, by the way.”

“Private Investigator? That's a really cool talent! So you’re like a detective then?” The boy’s enthusiasm was nice, and it couldn’t hurt to divulge a bit of information, so long as he was careful. Letting too much slip about himself, in a situation like this, it felt like even worse of an idea than normal.

“Yeah, that's basically what I am. Clients, mostly prosecutor’s and the like, hire me to do investigations. My speciality is crime scenes though, they’ll have me interrogate suspects and collect and manage evidence. It’s nothing too special, really.” 

Genji nodded along excitedly while he spoke, before walking to the door. “I think that's crazy cool, I would never have the balls to do dangerous work like that.” It was clear that the angler was interested, but from the way he shifted on the balls of his feet, he was eager to get moving. “Hey uhh, Mr Detective, that teddy-bear-lookin-thing said something about meeting in a common room, right? It might be best to get this crap over with as soon as we can. But I swear, you gotta tell me all about your talent and your work afterwards, y’know? I’ll bet you’ve got some insane stories.”

“Oh, you’ve got no idea.” Tsubasa chuckled good naturedly, and followed the Angler out the door, before his eyes caught sight of a black device on his bed. And slightly more concerningly, a suitcase that he frequently used for travelling laying inconspicuously at the foot of it. “Wait, hold on for just a moment. What are these things?” He went to what looked to be an ipad first, and attempted to power it on.

“Damn, I didn’t even see that. Nice going, Mr. Detective!” Genji reminded him of an enthusiastic puppy, with a one track mind, friendly disposition, and relatively bumbling in his actions. The Ipad had been obvious against the stark white sheets, and yet he took the time to praise him. It was nice.

“Right.” Tsubasa attempted to power it on, and it flicked to life immediately. The word ‘monopad’ was written along the top of it, and a map appeared in his hands. “That- thing, it said we had to meet in the Common Room, right? That’s right here, it's fairly close..” He tapped the map to show Genji. It wouldn’t be a challenge to find, it was located right in the middle of everything. In addition to the common room, there were ten bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, and four rooms that weren’t labelled. Those would have to be inspected later, clearly.

“Wait a sec, is that my suitcase?” It was more of a statement than a question, and Saito had moved to inspect it immediately, but Tsubasa put a hand on his shoulder. “Huh? Shouldn’t you look through yours? I mean, I’ve certainly got nothing to hide, you can look if you want to, but-”

“Uh, no that's not it. I just think we need to get moving, we can worry about why they have our suitcases later, we need to get out of here first.” There wasn’t a need to get ready, either. He didn’t know how it had escaped his notice, but he was fully clothed. Hell, he even had his makeup on still, complete with the bright yellow hearts painted on his cheek. It was unnerving, to say the least.

“Oh, yeah! You’re totally right…” The kid seemed concerned about something, his lips were drawn into a thin line, and his brows were clumped together in focus. Even so, he moved towards the door, and the two of them walked in step down the hallway. Voices could be heard from up ahead, and Tsubasa didn’t know if that was a good or terrible sign. His eyes were constantly scanning the dull and empty hallway, looking for any sign of an aggressor.

Thankfully, they weren’t stopped by anything on their short walk, and walked straight into the common room. It was a rather homely place, and it had the most personality of anything they’d seen since waking up. Three large couches, and a few arm chairs were arranged neatly around a coffee table. Bookshelves stocked with various board games, and a handful books, most of which were various cookbooks. The other books were only colored, and didn’t even have a title to allude to what was inside. Four people were already sitting inside the room.

“Oh, more people?” A girl with short, light green hair seemed almost bored as she looked them over. She wore a flower crown that sat lopsided in her hair, as well as an apron and well worn brown books and faded grey gloves, like she had done a lot of work outside. 

“Hello!” Cheerily and with a large grin, another girl waved at the two of them. She was wearing some type of sports uniform with the Hope’s Peak Academy logo on it, but Tsubasa didn’t know enough about sports to be able to narrow it down. Curly reddish hair that was halfway pulled up into a ponytail, and halfway spilling out down the side of her face bounced with her enthusiastic speaking. “I’m Kamiko Matsubara, the Ultimate Softball Star. It's great to meet you!” 

“Shinobu Yamaguchi, the Ultimate Florist.” Yeah, she was definitely bored. The contrast between Yamaguchi’s almost deadpan tone and Matsubara’s obvious excitement was amusing, and he found himself cracking a smile. The tone of the room was so light and easy, it made him almost forget about what was going on. 

He had heard of the both of them, and wasn’t surprised with what he saw. Matsubara was the team captain of Hope’s Peak’s softball team, and was a jack of all trades that played any and every position with extreme vigor. She never lets a ball get past her, and has an insane throwing arm. Despite her bubbly appearance, Tsubasa had seen footage from her games, Matsubara was superhuman on the field. 

Less was known about Yamaguchi, she tended to keep to herself and work with her plants more than anything else, she didn’t bother attending classes. But her accomplishments were well known. She tended to the flowers that grew all over Hope’s Peak, and the dedication to her work was obvious with how beautiful they worked. 

“I guess we should introduce ourselves next then, right? I’m Hiro Aikawa, the Ultimate Hero!” Tsubasa was about to make a comment about his name, but the other rolled his eyes and took the words right out of his mouth.“ Yeah yeah, it's a real fitting name, but just call me Hiro.” He ran scarred fingers through his olive colored undercut while he spoke, seemingly a bit annoyed already. Hiro seemed a lot more snarky and arrogant than would be expected of the Ultimate Hero, but Tsubasa really couldn’t say anything about keeping appearances, with his own neon colored hairdo. The Ultimate Hero was very deserving of his title though, he could be found helping on the front lines of almost every major disaster, easily identifiable by his majestic green cape.

A boy with icy blue hair who was sitting next to Hiro spoke up with a curt nod and a pleasant smile. “Kenta Sugimoto, the Ultimate Ice Skater, it's a pleasure.” Sugimoto was well known in competitive figure skating, he was going on to represent Japan in nationals, and consistently won gold medals for his complex routines. And he was quite the looker as well, having summated a large following exclusively for his pretty face and natural beauty.

Before he could get a chance to introduce himself, four more people walked into the room, two pairs from different directions. The first came from the same hallway that he had, a girl in a blue suit with curly lavender hair in the same shade as Genji’s, and another much more timid looking one with dark red hair that halfway covered her face. They were talking amiably, until they walked into the room, and spotted Genji and Matsubara respectively. 

“Genji?” The girl with the suit ran over immediately, and grabbed Genji in a big hug.

“Mizuki? What are you doing here?” At what must’ve been a confused look, Genij explained, “Oh, Mr Detective, she’s my sister, no need to worry.” He had assumed that to be the case, with their similar features and hair color, but it was good to confirm his intuition.

Mizuki smiled at her brother sadly as she squeezed his shoulders. “I’m sure I could ask you the same thing. I just woke up here.” She cast a skeptical look to Tsubasa, but there wasn’t time to elaborate as the two siblings started talking and explaining what had happened so far, basically tuning him out. 

The girl who had walked in with her didn’t pay any mind to Tsubasa, and practically ran over to Matsubara, who seemed somewhat reserved for the first time he had seen her, even as the redhead gave her a teary eyed hug. They must be good friends, maybe even something more. Oddly enough, he didn’t have any recollection of any information on the girl with the maroon colored hair, but he didn’t think too much of it for the moment.

Instead, he turned to the other two who had entered the room. Leading them was a raven-haired person with a long, loose braid and sharp bands that were held back by a single hair clip. They had incredibly sharp amber eyes that looked over everyone in the room as if challenging them, even if they seemed slightly panicked in their wide-eyed appraisal of the room. Features that were incredibly familiar to Tsubasa, and made him let out a short sigh. Masumi Nobuko was the Ultimate Lawyer, and they were cold on the best of days, and patronizing and downright mean on the worst of them. They had worked on a handful of cases together, and maybe Tsubasa hadn’t been the most agreeable partner (in fact, he was fairly certain that he poked their buttons a lot of the time), but Masumi did not like him very much. 

The person next to them was much more pale, with white hair that was tipped with a reddish-pink hue down to his shoulders. He was significantly taller than the other, and he seemed wildly concerned about them, but appeared to be getting brushed off. Now that he thought about it, Masumi had never really liked anyone from what he had seen, it wasn’t surprising to see that here it was no different.

Tsubasa decided to take the initiative, Masumi might be rude more often than not, but he didn’t want to be standing around by himself. And he was slightly concerned for them, they were hardly seen with an expression that couldn’t be called neutral, seeing them so on edge was weird. “Hey, are you two alright?” He walked up without much preamble, and waved slightly.

“What a stupid question,” He was taken aback by their sharp tone, but couldn’t get a word in edgewise. “You’re the Ultimate Investigator, Mizayaki, I’d expect that you wouldn’t need to ask something so ridiculous.” Wow. Masumi was definitely pissed, and he hadn’t even done anything yet. So much for a familiar face...

“Nobuko! Could you relax for a second?” That was pretty much the reaction that Tsubasa had been expecting, but the taller male seemed utterly apologetic over their actions, and started rambling. “I’m really sorry, I don’t know what's going on. I’m Junpei Fukuda by the way, Ultimate Chemist? But thats kinda besides the point, I need your help, they’re really frea-” 

“Fukuda, be quiet.” Nobuko snapped, before wilting slightly, and rubbing their head like they had a headache. “I’m fine, I’m just going to take a minute by myself.” Without another word, they walked into what he had seen earlier was the dining room, which was separated from the common room with a single door. 

Fukuda was about to go after them, but Tsubasa stopped him. “It's probably best to leave them alone for now, I don’t think anything good will come of following them.” 

“Well... Augh, you're probably right but I feel bad leaving them alone- er, I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name.” It was endearing that he was so concerned, but Masumi would probably be alright for a little while. He would probably go check up on them later, but there was a good chance that he would end up getting rejected anyways. 

Regardless, he replied smoothly.“Tsubasa Mizayaki, you heard from Masumi, but I’m the Ultimate Investigator. There's no need to apologize either, seeing someone as cute as you is apology enough.” Fukuda was terribly cute, with his lab-coat that was adorned with little pastel buttons and charms, and while flirting for the sake of it was fun, he really just wanted to distract him from pursuing Masumi.

Just as he had expected, he lit up in a slight blush at the compliment, and the wink that Tsubasa had sent with it. “O-oh, I’ll be sure to remember that. Thank you, Mizayaki.”

Several more people had walked in over the duration of their conversation, but before he could go off to speak with any of them, the alarm started to ring again. Quickly, he counted, 2-4-6-8… 20, counting Masumi, who rushed in once they heard the sound. 

Something bad was clearly about to happen, and Matsubara, Mizuki, Hiro, a person with a black ponytail, and a bald guy with a blue scarf immediately stood to attention, scanning the room defensively for threats. Honestly, he highly doubted that they would be able to protect each other if it came down to it, but Tsubasa stood with them nonetheless. He didn’t know any of these people very well, but whatever this was, they were clearly in it together. Further introductions and pleasantries would have to wait. 

A horrible moment passed, the only thing to cut through the stillness was the repetitive sound of the alarm. But soon enough, the alarm cut out, and the happy ringing of bells emanated through the room instead, as a small podium folded out from the wall. Everyone watched with bated breath as the same creature they had seen on the monitors in their room strolled out behind it. Its mechanical red eye flashed with something like mirth, as it started giggling to itself. “Helllllllo, Ultimate Students of Hope's Peak Academy. It's really a pleasure to be hosting you fellas for… what is it? The 20th game? Gee, what an honor to see so many bright, excited faces of my brand new pupils...” Tsubasa didn’t need to look at his fellow students to know that they all shared a similar look of terror, with no hint of the excitement the bear was describing. 

“Get to the point already.” Masumi’s growled out demand seemed to lash out, ringing in the air like a gunshot. Tsubasa didn’t know Masumi terribly well, they were a loner and an enigma at the very best of times, he wasn’t even sure he had seen them smile, but he had never seen them look quite so absolutely furious as they were right now. The idea of having those piercing eyes trained on him sent a shiver down his spine, he could only be grateful that they were on his side. 

“Aww, if it isn’t my favorite student, Masumi… I really could just hug you right now, I’m sooo thrilled to see you, bud!” Its sarcastic voice only seemed to make them more livid, they were shaking with rage, but held their tongue. “It's been too long, and I can’t even get a hello? Well, whatever. You are a little bastard, interrupting my speech like that, but if you want me to hurry it up, I guess I can make an amendment for my favorite.” 

No one else had anything to say, but the creature seemed to be having a field day with his literally captive audience. “Well, introductions are a good place to start! My name is Monokuma, and I’ll be your headmaster for the time being.”

“Right, that's all well and good, but how do we get out of here? There aren’t any exits, from what I’ve seen.” Mizuki spoke up, with a protective hand on her brother's shoulder. A wave of surprise swept through the crowd, clearly the news of there not being any way out hadn’t been only new to Tsubasa. Sure, there hadn’t been any marked on the map, but he had been hoping that there was one somewhere. 

That question only made Monokuma start laughing more and more. “You all just cut right to the chase, huh? That would be great, if you’d stop interrupting me all the damn time! Jeez, kids these days have no manners... Hold your questions ‘til the end, though I’m glad to see that you’re all so eager to begin.” Tsubasa was getting properly concerned about Masumi, their breathing had quickened, and they only seemed more panicked the longer that Monokuma spoke. He subtly shifted over, and placed a hand on their shoulder in concern, but that only made them start shaking more, and shrug them off with a glazed look in their eyes. There wasn’t time to try and help them in any other way either as the creature continued speaking.

“Anyways, as the more attentive of you might already know, you 20 were chosen to be the participants in the 20th killing game! I’ve been running them for sooo long, but it's still such a thrill to see a new one begin. I can’t wait to see which one of my lovely pupils will be the first to kick the bucket! It's too thrilling, too exciting, I need a moment to compose myself!” After a laughing fit, which only left Tsubasa paler and more desperate for a proper answer, it continued. “The killing game has a few veery simple rules: all you have to do to escape, is commit a murder and get away with it!” 

That statement hung in the air for a moment, before it sparked outrage and confusion. 

“That's just ridiculous!” The blonde girl who had stood next to Hiro rolled her eyes, her voice seemed annoyed, but her hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists at her side.

“What the hell are you on about, you crazy-ass bear?” A boisterous person with long seaweed green hair and a pirate cat sneered at Monokuma. Tsubasa briefly wished he had nearly the same confidence.

Genji whispered, “No way, th-this is one insane prank.” but his horrified face conveyed that he wasn’t so sure it really was one.

“Yeah right, killing each other, as if any of us would actually do something like that. You’re out of your damn mind!” Matsubara shouted, as the girl with the long bangs clung to her arm. 

The only thing that kept Tsubasa from exclaiming out something similar to his classmates was watching Masumi, who’s bangs shadowed their face. Under those, he was nearly certain that the impeccable lawyer’s mask was cracking. Just the sight that Masumi of all people, someone who was always put together, who was always a top, perfect student with an impenetrable air that they were more capable than you, crumbling so obviously under pressure, made him fill with uncertainty and fear. 

“Calm down, calm down. You all always freak out when I mention that.. But I assure you all that this is no prank, you all will be stuck here until a blackened, the party that commits the murder, graduates. And a blackened can only graduate if they murder someone! Stabbing, burning, bludgeoning, crushing, poisoning, choking, etc, etc! Good ol’ fashioned murder is your only way out of here!”

It paused as if to take in their reactions, most of which were exclamations of shock and disbelief. Tsubasa hardly even heard them though, simply staring up at the creature that looked no more harmless than a stuffed toy as it spoke. The very idea of it was so absolutely inane, so utterly impossible, that he felt his hands shake. 

“Of course, there are other rules too. You can’t just kill someone and automatically leave, you have to actually get away with your crime, and there will be a heart-pounding battle between the spotless and the blackened in a class trial to decide your fates. If the spotless convict the correct culprit, then only the blackened will be executed. But if the spotless make the horribly wrong choice and convict the wrong party, the rest of the class will die while the blackened walk free! So you rotten bastards have got to be clever with your killing! I won’t allow anything but the best from the lot of you!”

So there was no reliable way out… other than to kill. He would be stuck here, with all of these other people, until they all died? Was this his punishment? Did he deserve a fate like this? 

He didn’t want to die.

“Ohh quit being so damn dramatic.” a voice echoed in his ears, which were drumming with blood. 

He didn’t want to die. 

He couldn’t die. He wouldn’t die. 

Light blue eyes scanned the crowd around him. He couldn’t die, so one of them would have to, right? That girl with the purple pigtails, she seemed frail enough to go down easy. Or Genji, he would be too easy to kill. Just so long as he could escape, and leave, it would be ok if the rest of them died, right? 

But could he even kill someone? Snuffing out someone's life with his own hands, it seemed impossible. But he needed to escape, the air already felt stale and he knew the other people were sizing him up just the same way that he was and he could hardly breathe-

He felt a hand clap down on his shoulder. “Hey, relax man. Just listen for right now, there's a good chance you’re going to need this information.” Those words were whispered into his ear quickly, and when Tsubasa looked up over his shoulder, he saw the boy with the blue scarf. His calm, dark complexion and steady hand helped him to focus, and staved off the claustrophobic feeling that was clawing away at his chest. 

“...breaking the ice and having the willpower to draw first blood is a difficult thing for you guys! But lucky lucky lucky for all of you, you won’t have to do it alone! An all new special feature of the 20th game: the promise system!” Confusion rippled through the class, they hardly knew the rules for a normal killing game, what the hell was Monokuma even talking about. “Promises, well, they’re exactly what they sound like! If you make a promise with another student, which the both of you have to verbally affirm, you can share the title of ‘blackened’ and escape with them. But that goes without saying, that you would also share the punishment.”

“So the incentive is… that we can protect one other person of our choice, at the expense of the rest.” The girl with two toned pigtails spoke up, her voice a dull drone compared to what she was saying.

Monokuma seemed incredibly pleased with her though, and let out one of those heart, blood-chilling laughs before answering. “Exactly right, Miss Suuzi! You deserve a gold star, I’m glad at least one of you is thinking rationally.” The statement ended in a growl, and Tsubasa felt his heart skip a beat in his chest when that red eye seemed to focus on him. 

“An opportunity to protect the person who you care about, is that really something the lot of you can ignore..? Perhaps it’ll be the Saito siblings who snap first? Or even our little lovebirds over there?” The bear motioned at Matsubara and the girl who was cowering into her shoulder as it continued to laugh. “Or maybe some new friendships will be forged in this heart-throbbing killing game! I’m sure you’re all on the edges of your seats with anticipation, so I’ll just let the lot of you get down to it! Feel free to explore to your heart's content, none of you are leaving this place until the killing starts, any additional rules I didn’t mention will be added to your monopods. Happy hunting, everyone!” 

And like he had never been there in the first place, Monokuma disappeared.

The silence was utterly deafening, the only thing that dared to break it up was heavy breathing from a few of the students, who were on the verge of panic. 

Tsubasa didn’t know what to do. Not what to think, not where he was, not what was happening, not if any of this was real, nothing. He stood still, his feet felt like they were cemented to the floor. Like if he didn’t move, this all would pass him by like a horrible nightmare. 

“Alright,” that was Matsubara’s voice, it only took a glance to confirm that. “alright. I’m going to make a promise right now!” 

Tsubasa’s eyes widened, and he was about to cry out for her to stop, but Masumi beat him to it. “A promise? Are you insan-” 

“I’m making a promise with all of you.” She took a deep breath, and walked up to the very same podium that Monokuma had previously occupied. Suddenly, she slammed her palms on the wood, and exclaimed with an equally startling amount of conviction, “I, Kamiko Matsubara, swear that not a single one of you will die here!” Everyone was stunned into silence as she continued. “This is ridiculous, and stupid, and I’m saying right here and right now: no matter what happens, or what that damn bear does to us, nobody is going to die! That’s the only promise I want any of us to make in this place, is that we’re going to come out of this just fine.”

No one could say anything for a moment. That she could stand up there, her sparkling green eyes alit with a spark of something that not a single other one of them could even touch.. Tsubasa’s admiration for Matsubara had skyrocketed, as had his guilt for giving up so soon.  
“I couldn’t have said it any better myself, Matsubara.” An androgynous, muscled individual with a dark skin and pitch black hair spoke with a warm, approving smile. 

Tense muscles and accusatory looked relaxed as more of the group confirmed and affirmed her promise. Maybe they could be alright here… afterall, someone was sure to come looking for them soon. 20 kids, much less 20 students from Hope’s Peak surely wouldn’t be able to go missing without raising alarm. 

“I’m right there with you, if we protect everyone, then we’ll definitely be alright!” Tsubasa injected confidence into his words, convincing himself just as much as he was agreeing with the softball star. Surely, they’d be able to find a way out. They were brought in here somehow, all they had to do was find a way to escape.

But of course, it would be too easy if everyone agreed so easily, “That's all well and good, but do you have any idea how you’re going to accomplish that?” Everyone whirled around to face the Ultimate Lawyer, who seemed almost desperate through their veil of indifference.

“Yeah, it's a great concept, but there's no way in hell someone won’t go on their own and off someone. You’re being way too optimistic for a situation like this.” A boy with a shock of spikey grey hair that looked like it had been singed in an explosion, and deep eyebags sneered at the others. He started waving his hands conspiratorially as he spoke. “I’ve been getting terrible omens for weeks, I’m certain that this is going to get ugly-” 

“Arashi, that's quite enough!” A girl with curly hair the color of the night sky scowled at the other as she tightened her ponytail. “I know that you have the basest understanding that we don’t even know what day it is, there’s a strong likelihood that my- our findings are now outdated. I certainly don’t like it, but we are just as blind to the future as they are. If I could see the sky, perhaps it would be a different story, but as for now, we should try to work together.” Her words were stern and calm, and they seemed to stop the other in his tracks, though he did NOT look happy about it. 

“I don’t have any idea what kinda omen shit you two are on about, but I tend to agree with eyebags.” Tsubasa jumped as he turned to the side to see someone with a face full of clown makeup, how the hell had he missed that? “Someone is gonna snap, I dunno if there's anything we can do about that but hope it's not us they pick!”

And like that, the room erupted into arguments and disputes. Chaos broke look alarmingly quickly, with everyone trying to share their opinion at once. It only intensified the feeling of being trapped, and Tsubasa gritted his teeth against the noise. He didn’t want to hear how useless it was to attempt to save everyone, he didn’t want to hear anything. 

Matsubara was attempting to quiet the crowd, Arashi was grinning like a maniac as he disputed with several other students, Masumi seemed a bit appalled at what was going on, Genji and a few others looked on the verge of tears. It was with great shame that he found himself in that latter category. This was just too much for him to take.

Why did it have to be him in a situation like this? 

A sudden, impossibly loud thwang cut him off from his thoughts, in favor of covering his ears from the sharp noise. Turning towards the source of the noise, one of the entryways, he saw Genji’s sister holding up a violin. He hadn’t even known that a violin could make a noise like that before. “That subject matter is completely irrelevant. Assuming that this even is real, I doubt that any of us would have the foresight to say what will happen in this situation. Doing our best to protect everyone is the only thing that we can do right now. Matsubara, the floor is yours.” Like she had never done anything to begin with, Mizuki went and stood back beside her brother with a calm half-smile on her face. 

She definitely hadn’t been carrying that violin when she walked in. So that means, she must’ve left the room, found a violin, and come back, just for the sake of getting them all to quiet down. Some of these students.. They were crazy impressive. Feeling wildly grateful that she had gotten the others to shut up (he felt like he could finally think clearly in the quiet that stemmed from her lecture), Tsubasa mouthed a quick ‘thank you’ at her. Mizuki nodded, before turning to Matsubara. 

“Right, uh, thank you for that!” She was enthusiastic, but it was clear that she wasn’t quite sure what to say. “As for a concrete plan, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have one yet. And me making a plan all by myself wouldn’t be great, everyone working together will be way better, y’know? So if anyone has any suggestions..?” Matsubara waved her hands out to the crowd vaguely. 

What would be the best way to start this off… Looking around at contemplative, unfamiliar faces, Tsubasa was struck with an idea. Since Matsubara had been kind enough to reassure everyone, he was just confident enough to throw something out there. “How about introductions?” Everyone stared at him like he was an alien for presenting such a normal idea, but he pushed on. “I’ll be honest, I only know a handful of you. And getting familiar with each other is a good idea, right? We can do something simple: just your name, ultimate talent, and your preferred pronouns.” His voice wavered, and he felt embarrassed that he wasn’t as outwardly confident as he would’ve liked. 

Matsubara seemed pleased though, and clapped her hands together with a grin on her face. “Yeah, that's an excellent idea! Then, you can go first, since you came up with it.”

Maybe he should’ve expected that, but it threw him off a bit. Still, he gathered himself, and introduced himself as confidently as he could. “Right. My name is Tsubara Mizayaki, I’m the Ultimate Private Investigator, and I use he/him.” 

“Hiro Aikawa, but call me Hiro. I’m the Ultimate Hero, and I use he/him.” He blushed slightly at the people who snickered at his name, but kept his composure well.

“Kenta Sugimoto, the Ultimate Ice Skater, I also use he/him.” Sugimoto was very clearly one of the ones laughing, and Hiro slapped him on the arm for it. 

“Ichika Iwa!” A cheery voice that belonged to the girl with the dark, curly ponytail. Her space colored hair almost seemed to sparkle when she moved, like stars. “I’m the Ultimate Astrologist, and I use she/her.”

“Arashi Iishi, I’m the Ultimate Meteorologist, he/him.” He sounded a lot less enthused than the previous, probably since he got chewed out by Mizuki. 

The girl with the pigtails went next, with her almost deadpan voice. “Suuzi. Just Suuzie. I’m the Ultimate Puppeteer, she/her.” She toyed with her hair while she spoke, and grinned at the mention of her ultimate talent. Well, even if she is creepy and seemingly bored, at least she has something she can get enthused about. 

“Okimi Yasuhare, I’m the Ultimate Clown. And it’ll be she/her pronouns for me!” The ultimate clown was definitely rough around the edges, she had a look in her eye like she was waiting to start something. Or maybe he was imagining it, and her heavy makeup and red curly wig was throwing him off.

The confident person who had yelled at Monokuma in the beginning spoke up. “I’m Nao Aquarius, the Ultimate Pirate. Xe/xem for my pronouns.” Xe seemed a bit gruff, or at the very least standoffish, but that could very well be from a lack of trust now that the game had been explained properly. The Ultimate Pirate had a suitable outfit, with long, scraggly greenish blue hair, and an iconic pirate hat and coat. 

A girl with brown pigtails and a miner’s hat spoke up next. “Hmm, I’m Haruna Ota, the Ultimate Treasure Hunter! Oh, and pronouns? She/her.” Ota seemed to get lost in the middle of her sentences a bit, Nao poked her in the side a few times to remind her. They seemed to be quite close. Tsubara hated that he regarded that with skepticism. 

“Kaoru Suzuki, I’m the Ultimate Baker. I’m genderfluid, but use they/them for now.” Their hair was drawn back into a tight ponytail, and they wore a simple red apron. Kaoru seemed warm enough though, with a cheery smile and a confident air about them. 

“Shinobu Yamaguchi, the Ultimate Florist. She/they.” Yamaguchi messed with her flower crown absentmindedly, and when she wasn’t doing that, she was tapping her fingers against her hand. That was the only signal that she was nervous, everything else about her portrayed complete boredom.

“I’m Junpei Fukuda, the Ultimate Chemist and I use he/him.” Fukuda looked over at Masumi expectantly, to which the lawyer sighed. 

“Masumi Nobuko. I’m the Ultimate Lawyer, and I use they/them.” Tsubasa smiled over at them, since they were the only person who they were even vaguely familiar with before getting kidnapped, but they only rolled their eyes. Not surprising. 

“Tomi Murakami, but just go and call me Tomi. I’m the ultimate salesperson, and I also use they/them.” From the smooth lilt of their voice and their ultimate, Tsubasa figured that he would have some competition in the smooth-talking department. Tomi wore a turtleneck and a nice collared shirt, which along with his neatly trimmed dirty-blonde hair, made for a very smart look. 

“Damon Smith.” The guy with the scarf spoke up once again. “I’m the Ultimate Boxer; I use he/they.” He was still standing nearby Tsubara, but he was a lot closer to Arashi and Okimi, as if he had the same apprehensions about those two as well. 

“Oh, uh, I’m Roku Morita. And I’m the Ultimate Pyrotechnic? I use he/him.” He sounded hesitant to introduce his ultimate, and in a situation like this, who would blame him. Roku had blue hair and eyes, and a red and white striped bandana holding his hair off his face. He seemed to be around Genji’s age. Surprisingly, Tsubasa saw Suuzi standing next to him, so maybe they were friends? 

“Mizuki Saito, the Ultimate Violinist, she/her.” She laid a hand on her brother’s shoulder after her short introduction, prompting him to go.

“Genji Saito! I’m the Ultimate Angler, and I also use he/him.” He seemed more self assured standing next to his sister, and honestly, it made sense. Mizuki was definitely stern, probably the overprotective type. 

“I-I’m Akemi Watanabe. I use she/her. And this is going to sound really stupid, but I don’t remember my talent. I’m really sorry!” She seemed incredibly timid, even moreso without Matsubara at her side. Her maroon colored hair hung over one of her eyes, and she was staring down directly at her feet. 

“Yeah, I can confirm that. I’ve been dating her for a while… but I don't remember what it is either. It's really weird. I know she has one..” Perhaps it was redundant, but their de facto leader introduced herself with a smile and a wave. “Well, its not that important anyways. Just to make sure everyone knows, I’m Kamiko Matsubara, the Ultimate Softball Star, and I use she/her. It's nice to meet all of you.” 

That was… a lot of people. There was no way that he was going to remember all of their names. A terrible, horrible thought in the back of his head that he couldn’t shut up told him that most of them would end up dying anyways. 

It was only quiet for half a second before Kaoru spoke up. “Now that we’ve gotten all of those introductions out of the way, I think it would be best to eat something. I don’t know about all of you, but I’m terribly hungry. I could very easily cook something up for the lot of us.” 

Once they had acknowledged it, it seemed that everyone realized just how hungry they were. “Ha ha ha! You said it, let's eat!” Okimi whooped happily as she skipped off to the kitchen, not waiting a single moment for the rest of them. 

“Alright, that sounds good to me! We’ll reconvene after we eat something.” Matsubara hopped down from the podium, and grabbed Watanabe’s hand to tug her girlfriend into the kitchen. 

Even the more hesitant among them ended up walking into the kitchen. Genji waved Tsubasa over with a grin, having already found a seat. There were a handful of tables, but Damon and Tomi had already occupied themselves with pushing a few together for all of them. “Mr Detective! Come sit with me and Mizuki, yeah?” 

The familiar face of his roommate was a welcome one, even if it made him feel a bit guilty for his earlier thoughts. “Sure, Genji.”

Before he could sit down, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and a whisper in his ear. “Meet with me alone once we get a chance. I need to speak with you.” A chill ran down his spine, even moreso once he saw who had said it. 

He protested quickly and quietly. “M-mizuki, isn’t that-” 

“Dangerous? Hardly. I haven’t made any promises, and if you think I’ll do anything without Genji’s safety being assured, you’re wrong. Not that I would kill anyone anyways, but I figure that's much more persuasive of a reason.” That reasoning was sound, but still… “Just meet me, it doesn’t have to be too far from the others. I just need to tell you something.” 

“Ah, ok?” 

“I’ll help out in the kitchen, Suzuki. I’m quite capable, and it’ll make it a lot faster, no?” Mizuki spoke quite loudly, and with a smile, as if she hadn’t done something incredibly unnerving. 

“That sounds great, thanks.” They smiled brightly, and walked into the kitchen. It was a separate room, and they couldn’t see what was happening in there from the dining area. A few other people, Shinobu, Matsubara and Akemi, went along with them as well to help; a small comfort, considering that no one would be able to make promises with that many people around. 

Shakily, Tsubasa sat down next to Genji and the others. The table was quiet while they waited, and with Matsubara in the kitchen, there really wasn’t anyone to lead the charge. Mizuki’s demand had added to his stress considerably, there was no way he was going to start up a conversation. There was nothing to do now but wait, and pray that he wouldn’t end up a victim to this horrid killing game.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been so so so excited to share this work with you all! To be honest, I'm not exactly sure when the next chapter will come out, but I've got big plans for this fangan and the cast, and I hope that you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! 
> 
> There'll be a few freetime events next chapter, so comment with what characters that you'd like to see for those! 
> 
> Also,, if you wanna see art of these characters, I've got some of Mizuki and Tsubasa on my tumblr @emily-is-not-my-name, in the egggy art tag!! (I'll be making a floor map and a relationship chart for this fangan and posting it there as well, but those will come later)
> 
> Thank you for reading!! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed with predictions for the characters, freetime events you'd like to see, or anything really! I love reading comments and they absolutely make my day! :D


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